How Irish Aquaculture Competes with Norway and Scotland

Introduction 

When people compare aquaculture across Europe, Ireland often gets mentioned alongside Norway and Scotland. On paper, though, they’re operating in completely different leagues.

Norway is producing at a scale that’s hard to grasp. In 2024 alone, it exported 1,255,654 tonnes of salmon, rising to 1,414,909 tonnes in 2025. Scotland, while smaller, is still a major producer, with salmon output reaching 192,000 tonnes in 2024.

Ireland sits much further down the scale. According to the latest data, total aquaculture production here was 35,737 tonnes in 2023, with a farm-gate value of €168 million.

That gap in output is the starting point for understanding how each country competes, and why Ireland takes a different approach.

A smaller sector by design

Ireland’s aquaculture industry isn’t just smaller, it’s structured differently.

There are 280 licensed aquaculture production units operating around the coast, employing 1,961 people. Across those sites, there are over 545,000 individual structures, everything from shellfish ropes to trestles and cages.

That gives you a sense of how the sector is spread out. It’s not dominated by a handful of large, industrial sites. Instead, it’s made up of a mix of smaller operations, many of them family-run or locally based.

That contrasts sharply with Norway and Scotland, where production is more concentrated and scaled.

What Ireland actually produces

Another key difference is what’s being farmed.

In Ireland, aquaculture is not dominated by salmon. In 2023:

• Finfish production totalled 9,940 tonnes, with a value of €101 million.
• Of that, salmon accounted for 9,289 tonnes, worth €94.8 million.
• The remaining 25,797 tonnes came from shellfish and other species, worth €67.4 million.

So while salmon is the main driver of value, the majority of volume comes from shellfish. That matters, because it places Ireland in a different part of the market compared to Norway and Scotland, where salmon dominates both volume and value.

The structure of salmon farming

Even within salmon, the scale is very different.

In 2023, Irish salmon farming was carried out by five companies across 16 production units. The average sea-site produced around 774 tonnes of salmon, with an average value of €7.9 million, and employed around 14 people per site.

That’s a relatively modest scale compared to Norway or Scotland, where individual sites can be significantly larger and more intensive.

It also affects cost. Smaller production units mean less opportunity to spread fixed costs or invest in large-scale efficiencies.

Costs and margins in the Irish system

The financial picture reinforces that.

In 2023, the Irish aquaculture sector recorded:

• Total income of €187.4 million.
• Total costs of €182.2 million.
• On paper, that leaves a narrow margin, and in fact, the sector recorded a net loss of €7.9 million and an operating loss (EBIT) of €4.1 million.

That tells you something important. The sector is operating, but it’s tight. There isn’t a lot of room for inefficiency or shocks.

By contrast, large-scale producers in Norway benefit from economies of scale that help manage costs more effectively across higher volumes.

Competing on different terms

Given all of that, Ireland isn’t really competing head-to-head with Norway or Scotland on volume or cost. It competes differently.

Norway’s strength is scale,  producing over 1.25 million tonnes of salmon exports annually, supplying global markets efficiently.

Scotland operates a similar model at a smaller scale, with 192,000 tonnes of salmon production feeding into premium export markets.

Ireland, on the other hand, sits somewhere else. It produces:

• Smaller volumes.
• Amix of salmon and shellfish.
• Relies more heavily on niche and premium markets.

That’s a very different competitive position.

The growth question

One of the more striking things about Irish aquaculture is how stable output has been.

Production has remained around the 35,000–40,000 tonne mark for a number of years. That’s in contrast to countries like Norway, where output has expanded significantly over time.

The question isn’t whether Ireland can produce more, it’s whether the system allows it.

Licensing, planning and regulatory processes are often cited as limiting factors. At the same time, the structure of the sector, smaller, more dispersed operations,  naturally constrains rapid expansion.

Where Ireland fits

In the end, Ireland isn’t trying to be Norway. And it isn’t structured like Scotland either.

It’s operating a different model:

• Smaller-scale production.
• A stronger role for shellfish.
• A  focus on value rather than volume.

That model has strengths, particularly in quality and reputation, but it also has limits, especially when it comes to scaling up.

Conclusion

Global demand for seafood continues to grow, and aquaculture will play a bigger role in meeting that demand.

For Ireland, the challenge is deciding what role it wants to play in that system. It already competes, just not on the same terms as the larger producers.

The real question is whether it stays as a smaller, specialised player, or whether there’s a push to expand. Because right now, the gap between Ireland and countries like Norway and Scotland isn’t just about output.

It’s about how the entire system is set up to operate.

*By Anne Hayden MSc., Founder, The Informed Farmer Consultancy.